Cougar Evolution Chassis Review

Introduction:

The COUGAR brand was originally founded in 2007 by a group of computer enthusiasts and professionals in Germany. Feeling that too many computers had the same square boxes over the years, they wanted a way to provide enthusiasts and gamers with more stylish product concepts and higher quality manufacturing. Today, COUGAR has become a global brand manufacturer, delivering high-performance and high-quality components to the PC market.

Personally, I can’t say I’ve heard much about COUGAR before, hence why I thought I’d share a quick little bio about them with you. They seem to have quite few different components to offer up, ranging from a variety of PSUs, to fans, and some different looking cases. One thing to note, though, orange definitely seems to be their color. From their website to their fans, COUGAR decks out everything in orange and black; they might as well be called Tiger for their color scheme. Anyhow, that’s enough of an intro to COUGAR; today, we’ll be taking a look at one of their most recent creations, the Evolution – an enthusiastic full tower chassis. Let’s dive right into this one and take a closer look – less talk, more pictures!

Closer Look:

Okay, so I’m not starting out with the most exciting pictures, and I know many of you will skip right on to the next page without even having read this line, but the box often says a lot about the product. Sometimes, companies clearly spend too much on the box and not on the product; other times, there is a simple box and an excellent product. Sometimes, there’s no correlation at all. Nonetheless, you’re getting the box pictures whether you want them or not.

This box is one of my favorite types; simple, plain, and just brown cardboard with black print. It has nice hand holes to pick up and carry into the house – something a lot of case boxes still don’t have for whatever reason. The front of the box has an inverse drawing of the case itself, along with a large COUGAR logo and “Evolution” written out twice. A nice UPS packing slip covers up the box a little, but having to destroy the box when removing it, you’ll need to use your imagination to “see” the black color beneath.

The back of the box presents a little information about the features of the chassis. There are nice HDD trays compatible with 3.5” and 2.5” drives, support for long (12”) video cards, and an integrated fan speed controller. We also see here – for the first time – the reference to the case as a “midi” tower, which makes it sound smaller than it ought to be. Regardless of this name, it is still officially classified as a full tower chassis. The left and right sides of the box are about identical; you’ll find here another large shipping label on one side and a color denotation panel on the other. The case only comes in black, so I’m not so sure it’s 100% necessary to have the color panel, but perhaps they will plan to market an orange version in the future. Either way, that’s the box; don’t feel so overwhelmed.

Cutting open the top of the box, you will find your usual foam caps and cloth chassis-protecting bag inside; not really too much to say about that. I do find this to be the most exciting part of getting any new hardware though; opening it up. Pulling it out of the box and setting the case down, I find the case enclosed in a great packing job and in one piece; just as it should.